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Instant Pot Loaded Potato Salad will steal the show of all your parties & gatherings for sure! Pressure cooked tender buttery red potatoes smothered in mayo, sour cream, ranch, lots of crispy bacon, cheddar cheese, green onion. This Instant pot loaded baked potato salad is simply irresistible!
Don't miss our collection of Instant Pot Recipes & this Instant Pot cheesy potato soup!
Loaded Baked Potato Salad with Ranch
This fully loaded potato salad is a must have side dish for all your summer time picnics, potlucks, BBQs, gatherings, you name it! Tender melt in the mouth buttery red potatoes coated in the heavenly mayo based dressing which gives this dish all the gold star flavors of an actual loaded baked potato.
With the instant pot you can cook the unpeeled cubed red potatoes in no time. You can even batch cook the potatoes & store them in the fridge. Assemble the baked loaded potato salad on the day of your party!
Don't forget that hint of ranch dressing, it takes this creamy loaded potato salad to a whole new level.
Ingredients & Substitutions
Find the Ingredients with actual measurements at the bottom of the post. The list below is just a reference.
- Red Potatoes: No peeling needed.
- Mayonnaise: Full fat good quality mayo is the best.
- Sour Cream
- Ranch dressing: Just a hint of this elevates the flavor of this loaded baked potato salad so much. Use it if you can! If you do not like ranch simply skip.
- Cheddar Cheese: I used sharp cheddar. You can use mild cheddar and pre-shredded cheese as well.
- Crispy bacon: You can fry the bacon in the instant pot. I always love to fry a big batch of bacon and store them in the fridge in an air tight container. It makes a breeze to quickly whip up recipes that call for bacon, truly saves me so much time!
- Apple cider vinegar: Adds a bit of tang. You can also sub it with same quantity fresh lemon juice.
- Green onion: Also know as scallion. I used both the white and the green parts. This adds so much bright fresh flavor to the dish.
- Sal & pepper: Use salt according to your personal taste preference. Always do a taste test before adding more salt!
Best Tips
These tips will help you make the best baked loaded potato salad.
- Best flavor secret: Allow the assembled loaded red potato salad to rest in the fridge for 3-4 hours for best flavors and always use a good quality mayo. You can even make it one day ahead of your party!
- Red potatoes sub: You can sub the red potatoes with Yukon gold if that's what you have on hand. Halved baby gold potatoes or baby red potatoes also work wonderfully well.
- Dicing potatoes: Cube the potatoes in equal size. This will help cook down the potatoes evenly in the pressure cooker.
- Soaking potatoes: Rinse the whole unpeeled potatoes, dice them and immediately dip them in tap cold water. Once you are done dicing all the potatoes drain the diced potatoes & pressure cook them. This will block the oxidizing process & help prevent the potatoes from turning gray. So, dice, dip in water, drain once done dicing! No need to soak the potatoes for a long time.
- The salad dressing: You can definitely play around with the amount of mayo, sour cream & ranch according to your own personal taste preference.
How to make loaded potato salad?
Find the detailed step by step recipe along with measurements + Video at the bottom of the post.
Step # Prep the red potatoes
- Dice Potatoes: Rinse the whole unpeeled red potatoes under running tap water. Dice them into ¼ inch cubes and dip them in a large bowl containing normal temperature water. This will keep the oxidizing process at bay, as a result you'll never have gray potatoes! Drain the potatoes once you are done dicing them all.
Step #2 Pressure Cook the potatoes
- Set steamer basket: Transfer the diced potatoes in the steamer basket. Pour 1 cup water in the steel insert of the instant pot and place the steamer basket inside the steel insert.
- Pressure cook: Secure the lid, seal the valve and pressure cook on high for just 4 mins followed by 10 mins natural pressure release. Release the rest of the pressure manually, open the pot, transfer the cooked potatoes into a bowl/plate.
Step #3 Prepare the salad dressing
- Prepare the creamy salad dressing: Add the mayo, sour cream, ranch, cider vinegar in a bowl and whisk together to form a creamy dressing. You can add the salt & pepper at this point or add them while assembling the salad.
Step #4 Assemble the creamy loaded potato salad
- Assemble the loaded potato salad: Pour the creamy salad dressing into the bowl containing the diced cooked potatoes. Gently fold with the help of a spatula. Add the crispy bacon, cheddar, green onions & gently fold to mix well. DO NOT overmix!
- Chill & serve: Cover the bowl with a cling wrap and chill the loaded baked potato salad in the fridge for 3-4 hrs before serving. Serve the salad garnished with crispy bacon, chopped green onions & cheddar. Enjoy!
Stovetop Instruction
- Step #1- Place potatoes in a large pot and cover with water. Bring water to a boil and simmer potatoes for 9-10 minutes over medium high heat on the stove top, until fork tender.
- Step #2- Drain potatoes and rinse with cold water. Allow them to cool completely.
- Step #3- Add the mayo, sour cream, salt, pepper & vinegar in small bowl. Whisk to make the creamy salad dressing.
- Step #4- Transfer the cooked potatoes in a large bowl. Pour the creamy dressing on top of the potatoes. Gently fold with a spatula. Add crispy bacon, cheddar & green onions and gently fold with a spatula. Cover the bowl with a cling wrap and chill in the fridge for 3-4 hours.
- Step #5- Serve the loaded baked potato salad garnished with more crispy bacon, cheddar & chopped green onions. Enjoy!
Storing Suggestion
Fridge: Homemade loaded potato salad will last for 5 days in the fridge when stored in an air tight container.
Frequently asked questions
You can add more cider vinegar, red pepper flakes for little heat, a dash of mustard, more bacon, more cheese to bland potato salad to make it more tasty.
Over cooked potatoes will make your potato salad mushy.
Potato salad will taste fizzy when it turns bad. The fermentation process results in small air bubbles that makes potato salad turn fizzy.
Vinegar adds a whole new punch to the potato salad. The subtle zing and the fresh bright flavors of vinegar adds a great depth of flavor.
No, you do not need to rinse potatoes after boiling for potato salad. You need to rinse the potatoes after dicing/cubing them and before cooking them.
Yes, you can boil potatoes the night before for potato salad. You can even boil and store the potatoes in the fridge 3-4 days in advance. Store them in air tight containers.
The best way to cut potatoes for potato salad is to dice them into equal size squares about ¼ inch. This will result in even cooking.
Excess water sometimes seeps in the cooked potatoes while boiling them in a pot full of water. When the cooked potatoes are not drained well they result in watery potato salad. But not this recipe because instant pot loaded potato salad consists of steamed potatoes which do not need any draining at all!
Recommended Sides
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Instant Pot Loaded Potato Salad
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Ingredients
- 2 pounds red potatoes (**Unpeeled & diced into ¼ inch cubes.)
- ¾ cup cheddar cheese (**shredded. I used sharp cheddar.)
- ⅓ cup bacon (**crispy fried bacon crumbled into small pieces.)
- ⅓ cup green onion (**Chopped. I love using both the white & the green parts.)
- salt (**use according to your own personal taste preference.)
- crushed black pepper (**according to taste.)
For the Dressing
- ⅔ cup Mayonnaise
- ½ cup sour cream
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tbsp ranch salad dressing (**optional. Skip if you do not like ranch.)
Equipment Used
Instructions
Prep the red potatoes
- Rinse the whole red potatoes under running tap water. Do not peel. Dice the potatoes into ¼ inch cubes. Place the diced potatoes in a bowl full of water. Once you are done dicing them all, give them a quick rinse and drain them. This will keep the oxidizing process at bay, as a result the potatoes will never turn gray.
Pressure cook the potatoes
- Place the drained cubed potatoes in a steamer basket. Add 1 cup water into the steel insert of the instant pot. Gently place the steamer basket inside the instant pot. Secure the lid, seal the valve and Pressure Cook on HIGH for just 4 mins.
- Once the cooking cycle is over the instant pot will begin to beep, allow 10 mins natural pressure release and than release the rest of the pressure manually by moving the valve from the sealing to the venting position. Open the lid carefully when the metal floating pin on top of the lid drops. Carefully transfer the steamer basket on the kitchen countertop and place the cooked potatoes on a plate or bowl.
Prepare the salad dressing
- Take a clean bowl. Add the mayo, sour cream, ranch dressing & apple cider vinegar in the bowl. Give everything a good whisk to make the best creamy loaded potato salad dressing. You can also add the salt & crushed black pepper now. I love to add them while assembling the salad.
Assemble the loaded baked potato salad
- Pour the dressing into the bowl containing the cooked diced potatoes and fold gently with the help of a spatula.
- Add the crispy fried bacon, chopped green onion (I love to add both the white & the green part), the grated cheddar cheese, salt & crushed black pepper (according to your personal taste preference). Gently fold with the help of your spatula. Avoid over mixing at all cost!
- Cover the bowl with cling wrap or transfer the loaded creamy potato salad into an air tight container and chill in the fridge for 3-4 hours before serving.
- Garnish with more bacon, green onion & cheddar and serve the instant pot loaded potato salad. Enjoy!
Notes
- Best Potatoes: Waxy potatoes are best for loaded baked potato salad like Yukon gold and red potatoes.
- Dice potatoes: Dice the unpeeled red potatoes in equal size (¼ inch cubes). This will ensure even cooking of the potatoes.
- Prevent gray potatoes: Dice and dip the potatoes in normal water. Once you are done dicing drain the potatoes & than pressure cook. This will prevent the oxidizing process and keep the potatoes from graying.
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